Kalevi Kotkas (10 August 1913 – 24 August 1983) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n-born Finnish

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

, specializing in

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

, discus throw and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. He became the first ever European champion in high jump, in 1934 in Turin, and competed in the

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

and

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. In 1936 he cleared the same height of 2.00 m as the medalists

Dave Albritton David Donald Albritton (April 13, 1913 – May 14, 1994) was an American athlete, teacher, coach, and state legislator. He had a long athletic career that spanned three decades and numerous titles and was one of the first high jumpers to use t ...

and

Delos Thurber Delos Packard Thurber (November 23, 1916 in Los Angeles, California – May 12, 1987 in San Diego, California) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the high jump. He graduated from the University of Southern California. He competed ...

, but made more attempts and was placed fourth. Kalevi Kotkas set four European records in high jump, but two of them – achieved in Rio de Janeiro in 1934 – were never ratified. The ratified records were 2.03 meters (Helsinki, 12 July 1936) and 2.04 meters (Gothenburg, 1 September 1936).''Track & Field Statistics"''
Brinkster. Retrieved on 29 July 2015.

National titles

Finnish Athletics Championships The Finnish Athletics Championships, which are known as ''Kalevan kisat'' in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. Since then, they have been held in a different location every year. In the beginning, women were not allowed to compete in th ...

**High jump: 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938 **Discus throw: 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938

International competitions

References

1913 births 1983 deaths Athletes from Tallinn People from the Governorate of Estonia Finnish male high jumpers Finnish male discus throwers Olympic athletes for Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Finnish people of Estonian descent Finnish male shot putters Estonian emigrants to Finland {{Finland-athletics-bio-stub